How to Become a Business Analyst and Consultant Without Experience in 2023

therealminaofficialLast Updated: May 21, 2023

Confident female professional discussing in board room. Group of business colleagues planning together in meeting.

How to Become a Business Analyst and Consultant Without Experience: You want to become a business analyst, but you don’t know how to get started or what you need to do.
Don’t worry; this article will show you how to become a business analyst in simple steps, even if you have never done it before.

Table of Contents

Duties of a Business Analyst Does

When a company hires a business analyst, it gets access to a skilled person who can look at data to find trends, inefficiencies, and possible growth possibilities. They work closely with other teams and people who are important to the business in order to figure out what it needs and collect all the data it needs for a full analysis.
Also, before writing reports, presentations, and proposals, they use many different tools and methods to evaluate data.

Here is a list of the most important jobs a business analyst has when they first start out:

Collecting and analyzing data to find trends, patterns, and ways to make things better
Constant communication with a wide range of stakeholders to understand their needs and goals
Putting together presentations based on analysis, such as reports, presentations, and ideas
Finding ways to cut costs and make more money
Making it easier for new tools and methods to be used
Working with other departments to reach company goals

Usually, you need a bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, or a similar field to get this job.
To make things even more complicated, business analysts have different names, such as business process analyst, functional analyst, systems analyst, process analyst, and even product manager. Business analysts’ jobs and tasks can be very different from one company to the next.

How to Become a Business Analyst

Even though many companies prefer applicants with relevant work experience, you can get around this requirement by learning and showing the skills needed for a business analyst job.
Here’s a list of things you can do to start building your resume and making yourself look like a reliable business analyst.

How to Become a Business Analyst and Consultant Without Experience

1. Enroll in a class

Education beyond a bachelor’s degree is helpful in many ways, whether it’s a business analyst certification school, an ECBA certification, or an online boot camp. It can be hard to compete with people who all have a bachelor’s degree, but taking an extra course that teaches you a specific skill or gives you hands-on experience with final projects can give you an edge.

2. Learn about your field

If a business analyst doesn’t have any experience, they should spend a lot of time learning about the field they want to work in. It is important for a business analyst to understand the business and how things work.
If you want to be successful in an area like banking, insurance, finance, healthcare, etc., you need to know how each step works and how it relates to the others.

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3. Get Familiar With the Key Software

This software is needed for things like planning a project, setting up use cases, building a system, wire-framing, and making user stories and keeping track of them.

You can learn about the following widely used software programs:

Microsoft Vision is used to make diagrams, use cases, processes, and other similar things.
Microsoft Projects is used to make plans for projects.
JIRA is used to make customer stories for agile projects

Before you start working, you should talk to your boss about the programs that will be used and how you can get access to them to study them.
If you don’t have access to the program at work, you can sign up for a free trial version to learn how it works.

4. Make a portfolio

If you want to get a job as a business analyst, it can help to have a portfolio that shows your skills and experience.
A business analysis portfolio, like a UX or data science portfolio, shows off your work and shows that you can manage projects from start to finish. This includes defining the problem, doing an in-depth analysis of the business and relevant data, coming up with a workable solution, and putting your plan into action.

The great thing about a portfolio is that anyone can make one, even if they don’t have a job title like “business analyst.” You can show potential employers that you have what it takes to be a business analyst by putting together a portfolio of your project management work, including times when you took on BA tasks at your current or previous job.

5. Build your network

Many business analysts have moved up the ranks by making connections with their colleagues, showing they have good communication and people skills, and being interested in the business side of their company.
Having good relationships with teachers and peers in the field can also help you navigate the job market, put you in touch with people who may be hiring, and let you know about BA jobs that aren’t often advertised.
In addition to getting better at business analysis, it’s important to make more friends so you can connect with people who can help you do well in your BA job.

6. Participate in Business Analysis Projects

Take part in a project team if you want to learn more about business analysis, but it’s not necessary.
Use the BA tools and methods you’ve learned as much as possible.
You could also offer to do business analysis work for free or work on a project with a group of business analysts at your company.

With these tasks, you can quickly learn more about the real world.

How to Get Started as a Business Analyst Even if You Don’t Have Any Experience

If you want to get into business analysis but find the steps above too hard or just can’t do them at your current job, you can try one of the following:

1. Internship Opportunity

Find an internship that will give you business analysis knowledge.
This path is good for a college grad who wants to start a job as a business analyst.
Even though the pay might not be much, you will learn a lot about business research jobs, how they work, and so on. This will also look great on your resume, and the training will help you shine at the business analyst job interview.

2. Job Shadowing

You’ll need to take charge of your work while job-shadowing business analysts. Unless your boss tells you not to.
Job shadowing a business analyst is a great way to learn about the field and get a feel for what it’s like to work in that role. A business analyst can also get a license for the first level of their work.
This will help you learn about business analysis and do well in the interview to become a business analyst.

Conclusion

If you don’t have any experience, it might be hard to get started in the area of business analysis.
Still, you can get to the top of the field if you focus on getting the skills you need to become a business analyst.
Don’t let the fact that you don’t know much stop you from trying. You will quickly reach the level of senior business analyst if you learn and gain experience every day.
If you want to get into business research but don’t have any experience, you now know what you need to do to get ready.